Steel And Sorrow (Book 2)

by Joshua P. Simon

  “Don’t ‘sir’ me.” He spat. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Making the adjustments Drake showed us.”

  “That’s not how you adjust a trebuchet.” He staggered over to the equipment and pushed the man aside as he began to fiddle with the tension.

  Drake thinks he knows everything. I’ll show the smug little . . .

  “But sir, that’s not how it’s supposed to work,” said the private.

  Raker turned and sneered at the man. “Boy, I know how to work a blasted trebuchet.” He turned and made several new adjustments, cursing as he had to put his bottle down for a second to do so.

  “But, Drake constructed this one differently so . . .”

  Raker punched the man in the gut. The private fell to the ground, gasping for air. Raker spat near the soldier’s feet and scowled at the rest of his crew.

  They think they’re better than me too.

  “Quit standing around!” he yelled. “Get into position.”

  A minute later he overlooked the battlefield, gulping at the whiskey in his hand. He pulled the bottle away long enough to shout a command.

  “Release!”

  * * *

  A loud crash sounded from behind and Drake flung his head back as the first of the trebuchet buckets came forward. He cursed the second he saw its positioning and the angle the rocks entered into the air.

  “What are you cursing about?” asked Lufflin. Against Drake’s request, Lufflin and Nora had been assigned to shield the siege equipment, knowing Tomalt’s mages would try to go for them as they neared.

  “It’s off!” Drake followed the high arcing boulders as they fell hundreds of yards short of their target. Their own men, archers and light infantry, ran frantically out of the way. Several rocks crashed within feet of their lines. Yanasi and the other captains did all they could to keep the soldiers from breaking formation.

  “One Above!” said Lufflin. “The idiot’s attacking our own men.”

  Lufflin was right, but Drake hollered at him anyway, tired of his constant berating and sense of entitlement. “Shut it and go make yourself useful!”

  “Hey, don’t think you can boss me around just because . . .”

  With no time to argue, Drake gave the green mage his back and ran over to Senald.

  “Did you see that?” asked Senald, wide-eyed in disbelief.

  “Yes. I’m going up there now. You’re in charge down here.”

  “Wait. I don’t know if—.”

  “Not now, Senald,” said Drake, sounding more angry than he intended. “I need you to take over here.”

  “Go.”

  Drake climbed the rise and heard Senald shouting orders behind him. Cresting the hill, Drake found sure footing on the flat area the engineers had cleared away to make room for the siege equipment. He expected to see men running around reloading and preparing for the next shot. Instead, everyone had their backs to the battlefield, staring in the same direction. Drake pushed his way through where Raker sat on a small boulder wearing a blank look.

  Drake kneeled in front of him. “Raker, are you alright? What happened?”

  “I almost killed our own men,” he said in a low voice, barely a whisper. “What would Jonrell have said?” Raker put his head in his hands.

  Drake shook him. “Get up! C’mon!”

  The mercenary didn’t budge.

  I don’t have time for this.

  Drake spun and grabbed the closest man. “What happened? I thought I showed you all the changes I made. We drilled on them.”

  “We tried to explain that to Raker, but he made us change the settings.”

  “On all of them?”

  “No. Just the one we fired.”

  Drake glanced back at Raker who rocked back and forth. What’s happened to you?

  Drake turned away. “You three, work on getting the settings right while you four refill the bucket.” He gestured. “The rest get back to the other two.” No one moved. “One Above, now! This isn’t your first battle. We got men down there counting on us to do our job.”

  That seemed to set them off and the ridge became a frantic mess of activity. The other two teams readied their trebuchets in moments. Drake quickly checked the distance with a spyglass and then gave the command. The wooden structure groaned and creaked as stones heaved into the air. This time they found their mark.

  * * *

  “What in the name of the One Above are they doing up there, captain?” asked a soldier.

  Yanasi wondered the same thing. “It was meant to confuse Tomalt’s men so they think we don’t know what we’re doing,” she said with a quick lie.

  “Then why didn’t they tell us?”

  “It wouldn’t have seemed as natural if we had to fake being scared. Now get back in line and quit asking questions.”

  I didn’t believe Rygar when he told me how concerned Drake was.

  She felt a tug of guilt over her selfishness, not realizing how bad the engineer had gotten.

  Another rolling thud sounded as the counterweights of the trebuchet slammed forward and echoed over the mountains to their left. Heads went up and involuntarily flinched until they saw the stones continue well past their lines. Tendrils of sorcery from Tomalt’s mages went up to meet the rocks, but their mages couldn’t deflect all the projectiles in time.

  I guess Raker got it together. Hopefully it stays that way.

  The discipline of Tomalt’s men impressed Yanasi. None broke formation to step around their dead. Soldiers walked on and over the fallen.

  Siege equipment from the lower level soon joined the rocking cadence of the trebuchets. Yanasi raised a hand and a young soldier waved a green flag. Archers stepped forward and readied their bows. Tomalt’s men marched forward at a determined pace.

  “Loose!”

  * * *

  Krytien moved the spyglass back and forth between the siege equipment and the first lines of the left wing. Arrows, ballista spears, boulders, and bits of metal from the trebuchets and mangonels worked in a steady rhythm. Tomalt’s mages worked to shield their men from the falling projectiles, but the sheer volume filling the gray sky overpowered their efforts. Tomalt’s soldiers fell like stalks of wheat at harvest.

  “They’re definitely in sync now since Drake took over.”

  Kaz grunted. “Raker is a liability. I’ll have to deal with that when this is over.”

  “No,” said Krytien as he turned to Kaz. “Please, let me. He’s never been this bad before and I should have noticed it sooner. He may be more inclined to talk to me.”

  “Someone he trusts?”

  Perhaps. “Someone he’s known longer. Someone he’s been through more with.”

  Kaz nodded. “Let me know what the result is.”

  “I will.”

  Kaz pointed to the left wing. Krytien lifted the spyglass to watch as the enemy crashed into Kaz’s lines. The two forces heaved against each other and a ripple that shook the ground went out among the ranks. The arrows had stopped and the engineers shifted their focus to targeting the rear ranks of the enemy.

  Tomalt’s mages went on the offensive, battering Kaz’s left wing with wave after wave of sorcery as the two forces clashed. Amid the flashes of light and fire, Krytien struggled to determine who held the advantage. Even through the spyglass, the armies seemed like a giant mass of flailing limbs.

  Krytien found a pocket of their mages, several rows behind the front line. Two figures in green robes protected Jeldor’s black-robed mages while the latter worked to counter Tomalt’s assault.

  “How are the mages?” asked Kaz.

  “They’re holding for now.”

  “Good.”

  “We still have to worry about Bronn’s mages though.”

  Tomalt’s forces pushed forward and Kaz’s right wing purposefully gave ground with the intent to appear weaker than the rest of the formation. Kaz wanted to lure Tomalt in as the left wing then pushed around to encircle him, pinning him against th
e river.

  Krytien glanced over his shoulder at their reserves which consisted mostly of cavalry and light skirmishers. Once the left wing started their move, Kaz wanted the cavalry to sweep behind and support them.

  But that all depends on the success of the right. If they fall back too quickly, Tomalt could press us into the mountains. If the right breaks, Tomalt will split our forces. And then Bronn’s men will be able to overwhelm our divided army.

  The right wing continued their slow retreat into the fog, using the sorcerous cover created earlier to mask Kaz’s strategy.

  Still visible at the front of the right wing, a tall figure swung out with a giant warhammer, flinging three of the enemy into the air.

  “Crusher will take out that whole side by himself,” said Krytien.

  “Don’t tell him that,” said Kaz. “His head is big enough already. It took a lot of convincing to get him to leave my side today. The new armor helped. But when he found out I was using him as a rallying point so the wing wouldn’t buckle too quickly, he was convinced.” Kaz held out his hand. “Let me see the spyglass.”

  Kaz stood in his saddle searching out Bronn’s men. They waited by the river near a spot where it turned back on itself. He grunted. “Bronn hasn’t taken the bait yet.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “Increase the fog as Tomalt’s lines advance. Let Bronn think we are close to collapse. Maybe if he believes the battle is decided, he’ll be more inclined to act. If what Jeldor said is true, he’s only interested in the glory.”

  * * *

  Jeldor’s pikemen surged past Yanasi’s archers and light infantry, slamming into the wall of Tomalt’s spearman. The two groups met with such force that her ears rang from the clashing of steel. Wails of despair and blood-curdling screams of pain drowned out the clanking of shield and armor as the two armies stabbed, sliced, and hacked.

  The archers, unequipped for this sort of fighting, fell back behind Jeldor’s pikemen. The archers weaved between the lines where possible and loosed arrows as openings presented themselves. She had convinced Kaz to let her try the idea and was surprised he agreed.

  Jonrell would have worried too much for my safety.

  Yanasi drew another arrow from her quiver and readied it as she moved through the tightening lines. She released her arrow as a pikeman fell. Yanasi made the enemy soldier pay with an arrow to the eye. She got off another half dozen high arcing shots before the constant shoving and pressing became too much. She slithered back through the ranks just as a thrown javelin passed by her head, clipping her helm. She pitched forward and one of her men caught her.

  “Captain, we’re just getting in their way now. Jeldor sent orders to start wheeling his men to the right.”

  “See that ours fall back behind the pikemen and heavy infantry. Have them fire over our front lines and into Tomalt’s rear, if possible. But under no circumstances is anyone to take chances.”

  “Captain, where are you going?”

  “I need to check on the mages.” She heard the lieutenant shouting her orders from behind as she took off.

  Sliding through the mass of soldiers gave Yanasi a new appreciation for the infantry. The smell of blood and sweat comingled with fear and death gave the whole affair a personal nature that she only thought she had understood.

  Watching from a distance while plucking a bow or defending a wall is much different than this.

  A javelin caught a soldier next to her in his chest. She involuntarily let out a yelp at the crunching impact. Soldiers trampled right over the newest corpse with barely more than a second glance.

  I guess in the moment you have to be detached. Otherwise you realize the man next to you spurting blood was someone’s father, husband, or son.

  After more jostling and cursing, she finally reached the small circle where the mages supported the left wing. Two green-robed and a dozen yellow-robed mages aided the two black-robed figures from Jeldor’s ranks. The entire group fought against some twisted sorcery she failed to understand. Bursts of lightning, balls of fire and blue light, swarmed around the group.

  A sudden gust of wind followed by an intense heat threw her backward. Her helm rattled against her skull as it banged into the ground. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision while ignoring the stabbing pain in her neck. With head swimming, she rolled slowly to her knees. She brought one hand up and touched her face, flinching at the rawness of her skin. She squinted and finally gained some focus.

  Soldiers lay around her, chests heaving.

  Out cold.

  Barely audible above the buzz in her ears, officers bellowed at their men to strengthen the gap as Tomalt’s army pressed toward their location. Yanasi staggered to her feet. The ground swayed beneath her as she added her voice to the other officers in order to rally men to their spot.

  The lines quickly shored up.

  Yanasi shrugged away a hand that tried to steady her as she stumbled over to the group of mages. Soldiers drug away those too injured or dead to be of any use. Three yellow-robed mages and one green had died. Three more yellow-robed mages and one black-robed mage suffered injuries too great to continue.

  Blue light swirled around the group as vines of sorcery targeted the survivors. The mages rallied around the lone surviving black-robed mage and held. She ran up to the group. “What happened?”

  The black-robed mage glanced at her. “They set us up. We thought we had the upper hand. We weren’t ready for their attack.”

  “What can you do?”

  The mage shook his head as another fireball streaked toward them and disintegrated around the invisible barrier above. “Nothing other than this.” Sweat poured off his face. “Those who survived aren’t strong enough to keep up the defenses while I try to mount a counterattack.”

  “They’re going to wear you down. Why can’t someone else attack while you maintain the defenses? Just enough to keep them guessing.”

  “You need to convince Janik to do that,” said the black-robed mage. “The yellow robes aren’t strong enough. But I doubt it will do any good.”

  Yanasi stalked off in the direction indicated.

  She almost missed Janik hovering over the lifeless body of his fallen friend. Heat from another fireball radiated against her back. She reached Janik and grabbed him by the arm, yanking the green-robed mage to his feet. “What are you doing?”

  “Leave me alone,” he said, wrenching her grip free. He made an effort to return to the side of Yorn when she spun him back around.

  “What’s the matter with you?”

  “Yorn’s dead!” he yelled.

  Something about the way he made that simple statement set her off. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in close. “So what? He wasn’t the first to die nor will he be the last. You think you’re the first person to lose a friend in battle? How dare you act like his life is better than those men still counting on you. Mourn him later. You can’t do anything about him now. But you can save dozens, if not hundreds more, by pushing aside your feelings and doing what Krytien told you to do.” She glanced back at the group of mages visibly straining under the onslaught of power thrown against them. “One Above! Go help them!”

  Janik eyed Yanasi for a moment, turned a last distressed glance on Yorn's body then stormed off toward the group.

  Krytien, you better be on your way.

  * * *

  “Their right wing is falling apart, general,” said Bronn from atop his mount. “See how Tomalt is driving them further and further into this blasted fog.”

  “How do we know it isn’t a trap and they aren’t trying to draw us in?”

  “Don’t be preposterous. Draw us in where? They have a river at their back. They’re more than welcome to drown themselves if that’s their goal. It’s time to make our move.”

  “But sir, Tomalt gave us instructions to remain in reserve in case we have to stop Kaz from flanking his main body.”

  “Like such a thing is possibl
e,” spat Bronn. “Tomalt is almost as much of an idiot as the black foreigner is for choosing this location to meet in battle. They have a river to their rear and right. Low mountains on their left. How could they possibly flank us?” He paused. “General, I won’t sit by any longer. Conroy’s indecisiveness and unwillingness to commit himself is as ridiculous as Tomalt’s risk.”

  “Conroy did go for your plan to aid Tomalt under the guise of a temporary truce though.”

  “Yes. He finally realized it was in his best interests.” Bronn grinned. And mine as well. If I can gain the respect of Tomalt’s troops now while defeating Kaz and Jeldor, I should be able to steal them away after Tomalt mysteriously dies. After all he has no family. His smile broadened.

  Bronn cleared his throat. “Pass out the orders. We move in at once.”

  * * *

  The left wing failed to turn as quickly as Kaz would have liked. A massive wave of sorcery struck and the lines buckled. They regrouped in time to avoid disaster, but the damage had been done. His plans to roll up Tomalt from the left looked like they may fall apart. He had sent Krytien and several of the mages held in reserve to bolster that flank.

  A runner came up. “Sir, I’ve got two messages from General Grayer.”

  “What are they?”

  “The center is starting to weaken. He’s calling for reinforcements.”

  “What happened?”

  “The sorcery on the left wing disrupted the right’s retreat. The lines are off balance and Tomalt’s men are flooding over too rapidly.”

  Horns sounded.

  Bronn is advancing.

  He cursed. “I thought Crusher manned the center.” He could no longer see the Ghal through the blanket of gray, but earlier the man had laid waste to any who had dared come near him.

  “He and the squad near him were separated from the lines as we fell back. We don’t know where he is since the fog is making it hard for us to see our own.”

  Kaz swore. “Tell Grayer to do whatever it takes to hold the center and then shift to the right to make room for me when I arrive with our reserves.”

  The runner saluted and scurried off. Kaz grabbed the other messengers waiting nearby. He instructed one to send word to his cavalry. They were to maneuver around the left wing and disrupt Tomalt’s rear. Next, he signaled the remaining mages to lift the fog and focus instead on distracting Bronn’s mages. Lastly, Kaz ordered up the few hundred skirmishers he held in reserve. They trotted up to his position, some wearing mail, others only leather and shield for protection.